My question is, can I deduct ALL maintenance, etc. expenses for the property for the year 2019,
No. You can only claim as rental expenses those costs incurred up to the date the last tenant moved out, or the date you stopped advertising the property for rent - whichever date is last.
We needed to get some quite significant works done before we could sell (new septic system -- ouch!)
That is not a repair or maintenance expense. It's a property improvement that adds to your cost basis of the property. It *does* *not* *matter* when that improvement was done either. It still increases your cost basis on the property.
Enter it in the assets/depreciation section. Classify it as "residential rental real estate". Since this particular property improvement was done after the last renter moved out, you can't depreciate it, and you definitely don't want to anyway. So enter the same exact amount in the "Cost of Land" box, as you entered in the "Cost" box. Since the program will "insist" on an in-service date and a business use percentage above 0%, enter 1% business use and an in service date of the closing date of your sale. That's the only way the TurboTax program will not depreciate the improvement. (it would be wrong to depreciate it anyway, since the improvement was never placed in service as a rental asset.)
had yard maintenance, etc. to pay for even after the tenants moved out.
Flat out not deductible after the renter moved out. Period.
Also, can I include the electric bills that we paid between our tenants moving out and the sale?
Unfortunately no.
One more thing to cover as I have no way of knowing if this applies to you or not. Since you mentioned you moved from the U.S. to the U.K., was that move as a result of military PCS, DOD or other "official" government orders? I ask, because if it was then you would still qualify for at least a partial exclusion for the "lived in 2 of last 5" capital gains tax exclusion. That means you would not have to pay any taxes on some or all of any profits realized from the sale.
